Boston political writer petitions Trump to prove he isn't a Muslim

Donald Trump has called for a ban on accepting Muslim immigrants and visitors to the United States.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts to supporters at the start of a Trump for President campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina December 4, 2015.

REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

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Following Donald Trump’s call for a nationwide ban on accepting Muslim immigrants, one local political writer started a petition on Change.org, calling for Trump to prove that he in not a Muslim.

David S. Bernstein, a writer for Boston magazine and WGBH, called on Trump Wednesday to prove his non-Muslim allegiance.

“Donald Trump says Muslims — including U.S. citizens traveling abroad — should not be allowed back into the United States,” Bernstein wrote. “Since he will reportedly travel abroad later this month, how do we know if it is safe to let him return? We need him to provide clear, positive evidence that he is not a Muslim.”

Images of Trump with Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mike Tyson and other prominent Muslims are common, even though his speeches have targeted Muslims on many occasions.

“The issue is that he wants a religious test on other people, saying he wants to bar people from coming here, which may include people citizens abroad, vacationers, and that we need to have a test to determine their faith,” Bernstein said.

“I think that this is a reasonable question to ask him to provide his own proof that would satisfy his standards. We know Trump was a leading Birther talking about Obama’s birth certificate, and demanding high levels of proof. If there’s no way for him to prove it, then how can it be proved elsewhere? He should have some kind of test in mind.”

Bernstein said he is serious about the petition and is looking for a reasonable number of signature to give him the ability to demand Trump’s campaign answer his own religious test. There were 35 supporters of the petition eight hours after it was started yesterday.